Kamen Rider Zeit
by The Big Sun
Summary: Saito Sakurada, a Kamen Rider from the future, comes to 2018 to investigate the Alter Ego, entities taking the shape of famous figures in human history. Assisted by college freshman Mao Tajima, he will track down the Alter Ego and find out why past heroes are disappearing.
1. Clue 01 - Falling Petals

In the cold night, a figure clad in black appeared from a door of light. As the door shut behind him, he looked around at the structures around him. "Takatsuka University," he muttered, seemingly to confirm his place of arrival.

From his cloak, he produced a camera-like device. It was colored silver with red accents, had a small lens on one corner and a large clear screen that took up most of its front face.

"I traced the disturbance back here," he thought out loud. "It should yield good results."

The device lit up when the man flipped a switch on its top. _"Search Imager,"_ it announced. He held it up to his face and scanned his surroundings through the viewfinder. Various gauges in the camera's HUD rose and fell according to his distance from the anomaly.

It led him to an open area lined with trees; a small plaza where students gathered between classes. At this distance, the cloaked man could physically hear the anomaly. As soft clicking sounds echoed through the plaza, the man ducked behind a set of steps.

"...I know you're there," the distant voice called, sounding very human and youthful. "Why don't we make this quick so I can get back to work?"

The man clicked his tongue. Under no circumstances was he supposed to engage the anomaly, but it seemed like he had no choice. He slowly crawled out of his hiding place, body wrapped in the black cloak.

The anomaly whistled as he strode closer to the hooded man. Now under the dim lighting of streetlamps, he could be clearly seen as a blonde man wearing the full ensemble of a western cowboy. "That coat seems pretty heavy duty for such a nice summer. You wouldn't be hiding something, would you?"

The man flinched. His identity was discovered that easily? The anomaly had progressed further that he thought.

The cowboy smirked, hand firmly gripping his holstered revolver. "Now let me make one thing clear," he said, slowly lifting the gun up to the man's chest. "I don't care who you think you are, but get in my way… boom, goes the dynamite."

"Sorry, but the only thing that will be exploding… is you!"

In a matter of seconds, the man threw aside his cloak and shot the cowboy with a peculiar white gun. One of the shots landed, grazing the blonde's cheek, while the others exploded harmlessly at his sides.

However, instead of leaking blood, wisps of smoke spilled out and solidified into a glossy white scale over his cheek. "Well, that's just prime…" the cowboy muttered with a chuckle. In an instant, his eyes turned black and his skin boney white. The clothes he wore melted into his body as spikes began jutting out from beneath his skin. With taloned, gauntlet-like claws and a smooth, sinister mask for a face, it was difficult to even call him human anymore. "Not just anyone can ding the face of Kid like that," he sneered. "Who are you?"

The man, now wearing only a plate carrier and boots over a black shirt and trousers, scoffed. "Zeit. That's the name of your executioner." He presented the camera and held it to his waist. As if by magic, a red band longer than what the device could feasibly store coiled around him and snapped into place.

 _"Battle Imager!"_ the device cried. Zeit tapped the shutter button, causing a black card to eject from the device's side with a click. He removed it from its resting place and swiped it across the front of the belt, initiating his transformation.

"Henshin!"

 _"Perfect! Hunter Image!"_ As the card burned up in flames, a full-scale wireframe appeared around his body. It depicted a black and red armor with white pinstriping, a single flared pauldron on its right shoulder, white gauntlets and boots, and a masked helmet resembling the petals of a cherry blossom.

Kid laughed as Zeit finished his transformation. "Must be my lucky day! Not often y'see a Kamen Rider in the wild!"

The Rider's gaze tightened behind his mask. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Tonight will be the last flower viewing you'll ever attend."

"I doubt that!" he sneered, unleashing a hail of bullets from his twin revolvers. Zeit rushed forward, tanking the shots directly in his way. He tackled Kid to the ground, sending the both of them tumbling down an incline.

They landed in a stone-laid path, 5 meters apart from each other. His mask glowing in the dark area, Kid prepared a new set of revolvers from his holsters. Zeit pulled out another card and scanned it on the side of his gun.

 _"Slash Image!"_ Electric sparks crackled at the weapon's muzzle, solidifying into a long metal blade. Using the longer secondary grip, Zeit swung the weapon to adjust to its weight, then recklessly rushed Kid again.

"Guh!" The Rider swatted aside each bullet shot at him, before slamming the blade against the monster's shoulder and making a clean cut across his torso. Kid staggered and fell on his back.

"It's over!" He ejected yet another card from his belt and swiped it across the weapon.

 _"Laser Smash!"_

The sword shone with blue light and twisted into a crude drill shape. It spun and spun, whipping the air around it into a small vortex. He was about to strike the corrupted cowboy with it, before a scream echoed through the night.

"Kyaaaaa!"

"A civilian!?"

"That's my cue!"

The noise was brief, but it distracted Zeit long enough for Kid to shoot the Rider in the back and disappear into the night. As Zeit fell to the ground, he felt his consciousness slip away.

* * *

When he awoke, Zeit found himself in an unfamiliar room. From floor to ceiling made out of wood planks, it was naturally warm. In a fire pit nearby, he spotted a wrought iron kettle hanging above a large flame, whistling.

He felt his chest; bare, covered only in gauze wrappings. His pockets; empty. Where was the Imager?

Glancing to a nearby cupboard, he spotted the silver camera atop it. Ignoring the sharp pain on his back, he grabbed it and began analyzing its data.

"I managed to collect enough to track down future anomalies, at least."

Suddenly, the rice paper door slid open. A young woman with black hair walked in, carrying a tray with a warm cup of tea.

"Oh, you're awake already," she said shyly, offering the tea.

"Yes… how long was I out?"

"A whole day. That monster must have done a number on you." The girl sat down on a cushion, hugging the now empty tray.

"So you saw it?" Zeit's gaze tightened.

The girl nodded. "...Who are you?"

"Just a wanderer," he answered, taking a sip from the cup. "Where is this place?"

"Well, I'm Mao Tajima. This is my uncle's inn. Sorry if it's a bit shabby; it was the closest place I could think to bring you to."

"Not a problem, I was just about to leave."

"No!" she cried. Zeit raised an eyebrow. "I-I mean, your wounds haven't healed yet…"

She was right. The wound from Kid's revolvers was severe; it could take a while just to start healing. "Alright."

Mao breathed a sigh of relief, though it quickly turned into anxiety. "...That camera… you're a Kamen Rider, aren't you?"

Zeit's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect her to know what that was. "Yeah. Saito Sakurada, Kamen Rider Zeit. I came from the future to investigate anomalies in this timeline."

"Anomalies?" Mao raised an eyebrow.

"Inconsistencies. Things that shouldn't exist, yet do anyway. Things like that monster I fought last night."

The girl nodded in understanding. "I-I see… you came here alone?"

"No. There is another Rider I'm cooperating with, but he's currently investigating other points in time."

Again, Mao nodded. As she processed the information told to her, Zeit's stomach began rumbling loudly. "Ahaha, I guess you would be hungry after sleeping for an entire day," she said with a chuckle. "Would you like something to eat?"

"...please."

* * *

In a dark, indistinct area, Kid limped forward. His fight with the Rider did quite a number on him, but it was nothing the nurse couldn't fix.

"Kid," called a deep voice. "Your mission?"

"I-"

"It was a failure, sir," answered another voice. It was feminine, yet cold and robotic. "I saw it all."

"Now you wait just a minute!" the cowboy interjected. "I would have succeeded if it weren't for that Rider! Don't you go omittin' details, Tereza!"

As Tereza scoffed, the deep voice hummed. "Rider? I see, so there were still some of them left?"

"Yes, sir," answered another voice, his smooth and calm. "Den-O, Zeronos, Build, and Cross-Z are still unaccounted for. In my professional opinion, Kid's foe would most likely be the former two."

Kid chuckled. "Naw, Holmes, it wasn't either of those. It was a new one: Zeit."

It fell silent, and the three voices made themselves appear before Kid.

The calm Holmes was an older gentleman with combed brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a three-piece black and red suit and carried a burning pipe in his gloved hand.

The fair-skinned Gale had chains dangling off her hands and feet, contrasting the conservative nurse outfit that she wore. Her pale blue, almost faded eyes, gleaming in the light of her lantern, stared at Kid with contempt.

And finally, the deep voice belonged to a regal knight that sat atop a throne of red velvet. His armor was inlaid with gold and looked poorly maintained, as did the wrought iron sword that sat beside him. His face was obscured by the thorned helmet that sat upon his head.

Holmes, Gale, and the traitorous knight Mordred. Along with Kid, they were Alter Ego, mysterious entities that take the shape of famous figures in the World's history.

"Zeit… Kamen Rider Zeit…" Mordred placed a hand to his chin. "An unforeseen foe. You have my pardon, Kid. Gale, tend to his wounds. Holmes, deploy my knights."

Gale bit her upper lip. "Yes, milord," she growled begrudgingly.

"As you command," Holmes said with a bow.

His three subordinates faded into the inky darkness, leaving Mordred with his thoughts. "As long as the Kamen Riders live, the Alter Ego cannot thrive. They must be eliminated."

With that final word, the knight disappeared into the shadows. The darkness promptly collapsed upon his departure, revealing the abandoned warehouse they used as a rendezvous point.

Just outside, however, a black-haired man had eavesdropped on their meeting, and he wasn't happy with what he heard.

"Alter-Ego... man, this is the worst…"


	2. Clue 02 - The Moonsault's Revelation

It had been a day since Saito found himself living with Mao Tajima and her uncle. To his unease, Kid had yet to make his move.

He growled as he scooped himself another bowl of rice. Mao's uncle, Kenjiro Tajima, merely sighed at the sight. "For a man of your size, you sure do eat a lot."

The older man wore a grey yukata and blue haori, branded with the logo of his inn. He scratched his stubbled chin as the black-haired man grabbed a shrimp tempura from a plate.

Saito, now clad in a black t-shirt and boxer shorts, blinked. "Is that so? This amount is quite average, where I come from."

"And where did you come from exactly?"

"Nagasaki," Saito answered, a shrimp tail sticking out of his mouth.

"Well, whatever. I can't refuse a favor from my favorite niece," he said with a smirk. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be going?"

He turned towards Mao, who was also staring in amazement as Saito continued to inhale food like a black hole. As Saito had learned, she had been living at the inn due to its relatively short distance to Takatsuka University.

"H-huh? Oh, right!" The girl immediately shuffled out of the room, a long storage tube slung over her shoulder. "I'm off, then!"

"Be careful!" cried Kenjiro.

"...Will she be all right on her own?" Saito wondered. "The anoma- er, monster from yesterday could still be loose."

The innkeeper chuckled, taking a sip of his tea. "She's tougher than you think, Sakurada-kun. Not even a monster could stop her from achieving her dream."

Saito followed suit, pouring the warm liquid slowly into his mouth. "An architect, right?"

"Yeah. Said that once she graduated, she would give this place a real makeover." Kenjiro sighed. "I'd like to see that someday."

Saito smiled, inciting the older man's surprise. "That's very sweet of her."

"It is, isn't it?"

* * *

The well-dressed Holmes stared down at the university below him from atop a nearby telephone pole. The Alter Ego, as human as they looked, were obviously much more physically capable than the average person, even in their disguised forms.

Breathing deeply, he set aside the notebook he often carried with him during field work. "The smell of the desert is thick here," he mused.

Yes, the unique sun-scorched smell of the sands of time… It had to be the Rider.

Jumping down from his perch, he landed on the asphalt-paved road below at the precise moment where there would be none to see him do so, and met eyes with a black-haired college student just as she climbed up the hill road.

Holmes was immediately unnerved by her presence. There was something off about her, but it was faint enough that he could pass it off as simple paranoia on his part. However, something clicked as she walked past him.

The smell barely lingered, but he was positive. "That girl was Zeit."

His expression now grimly serious, a line of dark portals appeared to flank him.

The creatures that marched out of the portals were knights, clad in twisted, dented iron plates that melted into the shape of their bodies. Their white masks that were the defining trait of an Alter Ego were featureless except for the melted faceguards that mimicked a chaotic smile.

These were the Rounders, empty human-like shells that served as Alter Ego's foot soldiers. Being flawed mimics of the human form, it would be apt to consider them a type of homunculi.

"Pursue." At Holmes' command, the drones howled like a pack of wolves and tore madly through the streets. The false detective sighed at the sheer ferality, and calmly followed behind them.

* * *

Mao Tajima panted heavily as she dashed through the university's front gate. "Saaafe…" she muttered, completely out of breath. Being late wasn't an experience she would like to repeat any time soon.

As she stumbled towards the campus building, thoughts of the inn's new tenant started entering her mind.

Saito Sakurada was a bit rough around the edges, but she felt that he wasn't a bad person. Her mother always said that 'a man shows their true colors in the presence of good food,' and if the Rider's appetite was to be believed, then there would be no reason to be suspicious of him.

Remembering their dinner last night filled her with pride. She's never had somebody actually finish her cooking before; complaints would often fly about how it was too spicy or too medicinal tasting, but Saito ate it without comment. She liked that.

"I should cook for him again tonight," she said to herself. "That cookbook I bought-"

"Kyaaa!" "Waah!" "M-Monster!'

The sudden screams of her fellow students interrupted her thoughts. Mao looked on in horror as monstrous knights indiscriminately attacked people in front of her.

"W-what!? Monsters like last night!" Panicking, the girl pulled out her cellphone and dialed the inn's phone number. "Please pick up…!"

 _*click*_

" _...Hello, Tajima Inn?"_

Mao breathed a sigh of relief. "Uncle, give the phone to Saito-kun, please!"

* * *

"I see. Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes." Saito hung up the phone. The anomaly has finally made their move, but why attack the university again? Unless… they were trying to track down the Rider.

Kenjiro poured himself another cup of tea. "What'd she say?" he asked calmly.

Saito swallowed a lump in his throat. It was difficult, but telling the truth would be easier for everyone in the long run. "The university is being attacked by monsters. Mao-san is in danger."

"What!? That's- oh, god…" the younger man closed his eyes and walked out of the dining room. "W-where do you think you're going!?"

Saito looked back at the innkeeper with a steeled gaze. "I'll save her, I promise."

Kenjiro didn't have the energy to even argue how. He pulled out a pair of keys from the folds of his yukata and threw them to Saito. "Take my motorcycle. It's a bit old, but it's faster than going by train."

"Thank you."

Saito dashed out of the inn, spotting the bike parked outside the door. It was a black and red motocross bike that looked like it had been lovingly used by its owner.

After equipping a white helmet, Saito straddled the bike and revved the engine. "Hold on, Tajima-san, I'll be there soon."

* * *

The Rounders were attacking indiscriminately. Holmes hated it, but they were difficult to control after the initial command was given. Oh well, they'll find the girl eventually, and he was content with kicking back until they did so.

However, his momentary rest proved to be just that, as the roaring engines of motorcycles caught his attention. A pair of black and red dirt bikes rolled into his peripheral vision, knocking away a pair of Rounders that were about to attack a student.

"Looks like we have some uninvited guests," he muttered, putting away his pipe.

* * *

Saito removed his helmet, and eyed the sharply-dressed man standing in front of him curiously. This wasn't Kid, but he gave off a similar feeling.

"He's the Alter Ego, Holmes," explained the other motorcyclist as he disembarked from his machine. He was a black-haired young man wearing a brown overcoat and mismatched shoes. "He and his friends are responsible for several missing people cases in the past few months.

"Alter Ego?" Saito raised an eyebrow. So they had a name...

"Yeah. I've only confirmed their existence yesterday, but there's no doubt that they're the kidnappers. Look, his face even confirms it."

The gentleman's expression was neutral. Saito looked at the young man incredulously.

"N-no, I meant… I meant that his face is the same as one of the victims. Don't you watch the news?" Saito shook his head, earning an exasperated sigh. The man showed him picture; it was the Alter Ego, but with a much healthier complexion and a completely different outfit. "His face is an exact match for mystery author Rintaro Date. A real case of the body snatchers, wouldn't you say?"

Saito nodded, finally piecing together the mystery surrounding the anomalies. The Alter Egos were kidnapping people and using their bodies for some unknown purpose. This, in turn, causes events in the future to not play out, creating a grandfather paradox in his present.

It was surprisingly simple and easy to understand, once all the evidence was gathered.

The gentlemanly Alter Ego chuckled. "My, you're deductive reasoning is quite extraordinary, boy. How _did_ you figure all that out?"

"Simple. I noticed a pattern with the disappearances; piles of sand were seen at the scene of the crime. This was strange, since Tokyo is landlocked, so I figured it must have been the perpetrator's modus operandi. I followed a trail of said sand back to an abandoned warehouse, where I saw you colluding with your friends. Two of them were an exact match for two other victims."

Hearing that, Holmes growled. He raised a hand, signaling his knight minions to assume offense positions. In response, the young man pulled out a strange device and placed it on his waist. It resembled a centrifuge with a large red crank jutting out its side. Saito, realizing the man's true identity, quickly followed suit, affixing the Terminal Imager to his waist.

"I'm Sento Kiryuu, Kamen Rider Build. You?"

"Saito Sakurada, Kamen Rider Zeit. It's a pleasure."

The two Riders smirked, and begun their transformations.

Sento pulled out two translucent bottles, one red and one blue, and shook them furiously.

Saito pressed the shutter button on his belt, ejecting a black card.

" _Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!"_

" _Battle Imager!"_

Sento quickly spun the crank on his Driver, causing large red and blue tubes to appear from it.

Saito swiped the card across the lens, summoning the blue wireframe around his body.

" _Are you Ready!?"_

"Henshin!" "Henshin!"

Red and blue colored halves of an armor came at Sento, sandwiching his body between them.

The wireframe assembled into the full bodysuit around Saito, the red cherry blossom shaped mask forming on his head afterwards.

" _Hagane no Moonsault! RabbitTank! Yeahhh!"_

" _Perfect! Hunter Image!"_

As the smoke cleared, the forms of Kamen Rider Build RabbitTank and Kamen Rider Zeit Hunter Image was seen in full view. One was half-red half-blue fusion of something organic and inorganic, while the other was the no-frills image of oneself converted into power.

"Now then, shall we begin the experiment?"

"Right. Let's make their final flower viewing something to behold."


	3. Clue 03 - The Wild Dragon's Blunder

The two Riders stood back-to-back, surrounded by Rounders from all corners. Both prepared their weapons: Zeit a camera like pistol called the Super Eightzer, while Build a drill tipped sword, the Drill Crusher.

The Rounders saw this as a signal to attack, and swarmed the two heroes with a flurry of sword swings. Build parried one to his right, then slashed the twisted knight in the abdomen. The drill tip spun as he struck another one to his left.

Zeit, meanwhile, unleashed round after round at the opponents on his side, giving him time to close the distance.

 _"Slash Image!"_

The laser blade's sheer heat melted through the Rounders weapons and armor as Zeit cut them down. White miasma shot out from the gaps as the twisted knights fell.

"What's that smoke!?" Build asked in a panicked voice.

"I'm not sure, but the leakage seems to make them weaker!"

A thought flashed in Build's mind. He instantly unclipped a pair of bottles from the holster on his waist; one white, one grey. He gave them a shake and replaced the ones on his belt.

 _"Harinezumi! Gatling! Are you Ready!?"_

"Build Up!"

With a turn of the crank, the red and blue halves of his body were switched with white and grey ones themed after a hedgehog and a gatling gun, respectively. One hand became a spiked ball, while the other held a small orange gun with a hawk motif.

 _"Ten! Twenty! Thirty!"_

He spun the gun's barrel three times and aimed it at the incoming Rounders. The hawk-shaped bullets that flew out of the muzzle automatically chased their target and punctured holes in their limbs and torso. The knights exploded in a fiery blaze as the gas leaked out.

Build smirked proudly behind his mask as a Rounder ambushed him from behind. "Looks like I've found the laws of victory!" He easily dodged the clumsy attack and countered with a punch from his spiked fist.

Meanwhile, Zeit's quick thrusts with the Super Eightzer was proving just as effective, as even the slightest touch of the plasma blade caused the miasma to leak and evaporate in the sunlight.

"Let's finish this quick!"

A card ejected out of the Imager, and Zeit scanned it across his weapon without so much as a glance.

 _"Double Rock-on!"_

The card burned up, as always, activating its power. The Super Eightzer trembled before a copy of it appeared in the Rider's other hand, and both were promptly thrown at the Rounders. The flying swords spun in an arc, cutting apart everything in its path, before circling back and returning to Zeit's grip.

"That was the last of them," said Build as he returned to his RabbitTank form. He clicked his tongue upon seeing that Holmes was nowhere to be seen.

"Not yet!" shouted a gruff voice. The man leaped from the top of a nearby building, showing himself to the two Riders. "For Tarzan still lives!"

The messy-haired wild man wore a brown loincloth and a necklace of fangs, leaving the rest of his muscled, pale body exposed to the elements. In one hand he carried a large knife made from sharpened bone, and in the other-

"Mao-san!" Zeit cried as he spotted the young girl the wild man hoisted over his shoulder. Build, meanwhile, was incredulous at what he was witnessing; The wild Tarzan was the splitting image of his best friend and sidekick.

"What the hell, that fits Banjou perfectly," he said with a snort. "I wasn't aware the Alter Ego had a sense of humor."

Tarzan smirked. "Laugh while you can, Build! With Cross-Z and his high Hazard Level, as well as this girl as my hostage, you can't even touch me!" Build snorted again, causing the wild Alter Ego to growl. "What's so funny!?"

Zeit turned to Build quizzically. "The Ryuuga Banjou who can transform into Cross-Z has brown hair and cornrows, y'know?" he explained, smugly tapping the back of his helmet. "Your host has black. And if this is the Banjou you're talking about, where's his Driver?"

Tarzan blanked out, his agitated body loosening as he struggled to make an excuse. "Um, well, I… don't have it."

"I rest my case." Build confidently turned to the future Rider, who was hardly following anything he just said. "Shall we?"

"R-Right, but what about Mao-san?"

"Don't worry; I've found the formula for that, too!" Build pulled out another pair of bottles, these ones pink and yellow, and inserted them into the belt. "I'll get the girl, you take care of the musclehead!"

 _"Octopus! Light! Best Match!"_

"Build Up!"

 _"Inazuma Technician! OctopusLight! Yeah!"_

Now changed into his new cephalopod and lightbulb-based form, Build unleashed a flare from the bulb on his shoulder, blinding the wild man. He immediately moved in with his pink tentacles and snatched Mao Tajima from Tarzan's grasp. It was followed instantly with Zeit punching him in the jaw, sending the Alter Ego flying.

However, Tarzan cushioned his fall by transforming into his ape-like monstrous form, complete with glowing white mask. "Rghh! Damn you!" he cursed as a second bone-knife extended from his shoulder blade. He brandished the twin weapons before leaping at Zeit.

As Build left the battle to store Mao's unconscious body in a safe place, Zeit jumped away from the wild man's attack. He unloaded a salvo of laser bullets from the Super Eightzer, but it was hardly effective as they ricocheted harmlessly off his body.

"Damn!" he cursed as dodged a thrown knife.

Tarzan sneered. "Hmph, is that all you've got!? Holmes and Mordred's worries were for nothing!"

Zeit's teeth were gritted under his mask. He swiped the Slash Image card on his gun, turning it into the familiar laser blade. Determined to end the battle quickly, the future Rider simply ran at the wild man and slashed his torso twice in an x-shape.

Tarzan shrieked in pain as the open wound leaked white smoke. Furious, he swiped wildly at the Rider with a new pair of bone knives, which he parried. The back and forth dance continued, with Zeit countering each of Tarzan's attacks and sneaking in his own when his guard was open.

"You Riders are the only things in between us and the world!" Tarzan shouted, swinging at his head.

Zeit batted it away and snapped back. "So that's your leader's aim? To conquer the world like he tried to do with Camelot!?"

"The scope of his plan is much bigger than what a mere human can understand! The Alter Ego will thrive!"

Zeit kicked his opponent away before he could talk more nonsense. He hovered the Super Eightzer over the Terminal Imager, which initiated communication between the two with a triumphant announcement.

 _"Gamma Burst!"_

A blinding red light doused the sword, taking shape as crackling electricity that bound it and the belt together. Zeit raised it with the blade facing away and assumed a wide stance, bracing himself for the coming impact. The laser blade begun to overcharge, losing its solid shape and becoming more like the fiery exhaust of a jet engine.

Zeit counted down softly, his grip weakening. "3, 2, 1…!"

He brought the sword down upon Tarzan in one motion, slicing the Alter Ego cleanly down the middle. The large vertical cut spewed high-pressure miasma that burst into flames upon contact with the atmosphere.

"Damn… you!" the wild man cursed as his two halves dissolved into nothing.

* * *

Mao Tajima woke up in the arms of someone familiar. His sharp eyes and stoic expression softened into a look of utter relief as she saw the man with messy black hair hover over her. She flushed red as he placed a hand on her forehead.

"Body temperature and blood circulation look to be normal," he examined. "Heart rate is steadily increasing within expected levels."

Saito nodded, content with his evaluation of her health. "Sakurada-san? W-what happened?" she asked weakly.

"A group of monsters attacked the school," the man answered without a hint of sarcasm. "You were knocked unconscious and taken hostage by one of them. We managed to defeat it though, don't worry."

Mao paused mid-nod. "We?"

Just as she asked that, a young man wearing a brown overcoat walked over to the two with a puzzled expression. Mao's heart noted that he was rather attractive.

"Strange," he muttered. "The host doesn't have a scratch on him. It's like his body was returned in the same state that it was taken. Considering you split it in half, that- Oh, your friend is up."

"Yeah. Thank you, Sento." Saito stood up and bowed deeply. "I most likely would have failed to save her alone."

Mao was about to object, but it seemed Sento was doing that for her. He patted him on the shoulder with a smirk. "Don't sell yourself short. You did the Alter Ego in by yourself, didn't you?"

Saito stood straight and begrudgingly agreed. "I suppose so." He turned back to the weak girl with a sigh. "Ah, right. Mao-san, this is Sento Kiryuu; Kamen Rider Build."

The girl could only nod after the other Rider waved at her with a grin. "Nice to meet you…" After their greetings, Saito wasted no time in picking Mao up, bridal-style. Her face further flushed red as Sento chuckled at her predicament. "Fue-!? Hey, what are you doing!?"

"We don't know if the Alter Ego did anything to you," he said. His face was way too close for comfort. "I can't risk an incident."

The short-haired girl wanted to object, but it was clear that he wouldn't relent. "...Okay."

It wasn't a bad state to be in, to be honest.


End file.
